


How Do You Do It, Chief?

by Wyndewalker



Category: The Sentinel
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-18
Updated: 2013-06-18
Packaged: 2017-12-15 09:22:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/847891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wyndewalker/pseuds/Wyndewalker
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Blair comes to a little girl's rescue and gets himself stuck when Jim leaves him alone for a few minutes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	How Do You Do It, Chief?

"You've got five minutes, Chief. Make it quick." Jim said, pulling up in front of the entrance to Toys For You.

"Five minutes, Jim? How am I supposed to find gift for Jessie's daughter in five minutes? Aren't you coming in?" Blair asked, getting out of the truck.

"A store full of screaming kids running around playing with even louder toys? Don't think so. You're wasting your five minutes."

"I'm going. I'm going. Jeesh, I don't get you sometimes, man."

"Whatever, Chief." Jim muttered, as he pulled back into parking lot traffic in search of a place to park. It was Saturday and Sandburg really expected him to willingly walk into a toy megastore? Even if he didn't have enhanced senses he wasn't stupid enough to do that. Finally settling on a spot in the back of the lot he settled in for the wait.

Inside Blair was beginning to see the wisdom of Jim's decision to wait outside. Between yelling kids, screaming babies, and shouting parents he feared for his own hearing. He hurried through the aisles, past board games, bicycles, sporting equipment, action figures that were obviously meant for boys, to a quieter section of the store. Walking into the pastel decorated aisle, Blair actually stopped to look around and make sure he was still in the toy store. The decibel level had actually dropped upon entering the aisle. There were several little girls in the aisle with their mothers hovering in the background, but they were quietly playing or selecting their choice of doll. He actually gulped as he looked at the wide assortment of Barbie dolls on the shelf. Who knew there were so many of them? Which one had Jessie said her daughter wanted? Luau Barbie? Horseback Riding Barbie? Skiing Barbie? Tie Dye Barbie? Soccer Barbie? Millennium Princess Barbie? Or was it one of the Barbie friend dolls? Cool School Ken? Cool Sitter Teen Skipper? There were so many of them. How was he supposed to choose one? Desperate he grabbed one at random. The sound of giggles got his attention.

"What?" Looking down he found a little girl, maybe eight years old, in a pale light blue jumper and a matching bow in her short brown hair. Her brown eyes held amusement, he looked at the Barbie in his hand, "Is there something wrong with this one?"

She smiled at him taking the Barbie; "Everyone has that one, silly." She put it back on the shelf and pulled off another Barbie like the one she was holding. "She's brand new. My mommy said if I cleaned up my room real good I could get her. Did your little girl have to clean up her room too?"

Crouching down so he was at her eye level, Blair smiled, "This is for my friend's little girl. It's her birthday today. Do you think she'll like it?"

"Um-hmm, this is one of the bestest Barbie's ever."

"Sweetie, what did I tell you about talking to strangers?" A slightly harried-looking young woman came up behind the little girl, drawing her back away from Blair. A little boy, maybe four years old, peeked out from behind the woman's legs.

"It's all right, ma'am. She was just helping me pick out a birthday present. Thank you very much for your help, young lady," Blair nodded to the little girl. With a smile and a nod to her mother he left them, holding the Barbie tightly. 

Walking back through the store, he was passing by the action figures when one of the GI Joe figures caught his eye. He was amazed at how much like Jim it looked, dressed up in camouflage pants and face paint. The figure even had a receding hairline. Chuckling evilly, he picked up the figure. Jim needed a decoration for his desk.

At the front of the store he paled visibly at the sight of the long lines for the registers. He was going to be here a while. Getting onto what he hoped was a fast moving line, he started looking around watching how different parents handled the their kids.

Fifteen minutes later he had moved up to third in line when a high pitched scream followed by an "Oh God!" drew his attention to the exit doors. From what he could see a little girl had gotten her arm caught in the automatic door when it had opened. Then he recognized the pale blue jumper. Dropping his packages on the checkout counter, Blair ran to the little girl's side. 

Reaching her, he saw how she was stuck. Because of the way the door was hinged when it had opened a gap was created between it and the wall. Somehow her arm had slipped through. The door tried to close crushing her arm between it and the wall. The little girl stared up at him, whimpering pain.

"Help me, please," she whispered. She cried out again as the door opened itself slightly and tried to shut again.

Looking around, Blair spotted one of the cashiers in the crowd. "Call 911, and find out if there's some way to turn this thing off. It's going to be all right, honey. We'll get you out of this."

"Oh, Beth, what were you doing? Everything's going to be okay, sweetie," her mother tried to pat her free arm soothingly while swiping at the tears on her own cheeks.

Blair grimaced as the girl cried again. The door was still bouncing, trying to close. He had to get the damn thing immobilized. He spotted a couple of guys in the crowd. Quickly he pointed to them, "You and you, come help me."

Being careful not to step on the sensor plate for the door trapping the little girl, he exited the other door, the two men following him. "Here, grab the door and try and keep it from moving. I'm going to see if I can get her loose." 

Getting in close, he gently felt where her arm was trapped. The wall track was rough and had caught on the fabric of her sleeve. He felt wetness and realized it had cut into her arm. At least he hoped it had just cut her. He hated to think of a compound fracture. It also explained part of why she couldn't just pull her arm out.

This was not going to be fun, but he couldn't just stand there while she cried. Rolling up his own sleeve so that it wouldn't get caught on the sharp edges, he turned to the two guys trying to hold the door steady; "I need you guys to hold that as still as possible. It would be great if you could even pull it towards me a little, but take it slow. I think her arm is broken and I don't want to hurt her anymore if possible. I'm going to see if I can guide her arm out."

They nodded and once Blair was in position they began to pull on it. They didn't have a choice in taking it slowly since the door was very uncooperative. Blair slipped his fingers in around her arm, gently unsnagging the pieces of material that were trapping her. Certain nothing else was caught he began sliding her arm out, keeping his hand and arm between hers and the sharp metal. He gritted his teeth as he felt it digging into his own arm, cutting him.

A few tense seconds passed and then she was free. Her mother immediately scooped her up, holding her tightly. Blair started to pull his arm back but quickly stopped when he felt the burning sensation of something digging deeper into his arm. At the same time one of the guys holding the door let go, not realizing Blair was still trapped. He gasped in pain as the door the closed on his arm driving the spike of metal even deeper into his arm.

"You okay, buddy?" The guy still holding the door asked.

"No, man. There's piece of metal digging into my arm. Every time I move it goes deeper."

The guy paled visibly turning to the store manager, who was standing by the little girl and her mother. "Hey, when's the Rescue people getting here? He can't get his arm free."

"What? Another five minutes," he said, coming over to them. He moved in to get a look Blair's arm and saw the small puddle of blood starting to form on the floor. "Hold on, young man. The Fire Department should be here very soon."

"Great. Just great. Um, my friend is waiting outside. I think someone should go let him know..."

"Too late, Chief. I'm here." Jim said, coming up behind him. Blair tried to turn to face him but ended up groaning in pain. "Easy there. Don't move. I'm going to go around the other side and see if I can figure out how to get you loose."

Blair just nodded, leaning his head forward against the clear plexiglass of the door. A moment later he felt the light pressure of Jim's fingers on his arm where the metal had embedded itself. He tried not to wince as Jim prodded as lightly as he could.

Jim gritted his teeth at the sight of Blair's arm and the blood pooling on the floor. Zooming in with his sight he saw that the piece of metal was buried about half an inch under the skin. It had bent when he tried to pull his arm back out and was sticking straight up rather than at an angle. Moving would only cause Blair more pain and possible break off the metal in his arm. "Well, you really managed to get yourself stuck this time, Chief. It looks like the only way to get you out of here is to take the door off its' hinges. Did you at least get what you came in here for?"

"Sorta. I was on line but I never actually got to pay for anything. Oh man, what time is it?"

"A quarter to 1. What time is the party?"

"One o'clock. Jessie is going to kill me. I promised her I wouldn't be late. Jessie said Kim was really looking forward to my being there."

"What were you purchasing, Mr. ?"

"Sandburg. Blair Sandburg. I left them over at register fourteen. It was a Barbie doll and a GI Ji...Joe."

"Don't worry about it. You said they were birthday presents? I'll have someone wrap them and they'll be ready when you're able to leave."

"Thanks. How much..."

"Nothing. It's the least we can do for you. Consider it thanks for rescuing that little girl. We are very sorry this happened at all."

Jim cocked his head to the side, listening. "The fire trucks are almost here."

"I'll go meet them," the store manager said. Standing, he gestured another employee forward, spoke quietly to her for a moment, before heading out the door.

Jim turned back to Blair, a quizzical expression on his face. "Okay, the Barbie I understand, but who's the GI Joe for?"

Blair blushed, "Um, someone I know."

"Uh-huh." 

Almost two hours later Blair and Jim left the hospital. It took the fire department thirty minutes to dismantle the automatic door freeing Blair, then he spent an hour and a half while he was x-rayed, cleaned, sutured, and bandaged. As they pulled away Jim looked over at his roommate, Guide, and best friend. He sat leaning against the door, his eyes closed, already feeling the effects of the pain medication he'd been given. After a moment of scrutiny from Jim, not bothering to open his eyes Blair asked, "What is it, Jim?"

"I just don't get it. How do you do it, Chief?"

"Do what?" Blair cracked open an eye to look at his roommate, Sentinel, and best friend.

"I left you alone for five minutes in a toy store of all places and the next thing I now you've got your arm caught in an automatic door. How do you do it, Chief?"

He closed his eye again and sighed. "Talent, Jim. Talent."

~Fini~

**Author's Note:**

> The events of this story did actually take place. I was 8 or 9 when I was playing by the automatic door of Toys R' Us and managed to get my arm stuck in it like the little girl in the story, only there was no one brave enough to attempt to free me like Blair, so I had to wait for the Fire department to dismantle the door to get me free.


End file.
